Case Study · 1.5 min read

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon? is a fun, interactive web game built with React, inspired by the iconic guessing game. This passion project showcases game development skills and crafting engaging, nostalgic user experiences.

whothatpokemon.com ↗

Project Overview:

Who’s That Pokémon? is an interactive and nostalgic web game designed as a passion project to bring the classic silhouette guessing challenge to fans online. Built entirely with React, this project highlights skills in frontend development, game logic implementation, state management, and creating engaging user experiences. The application features a clean, responsive design ensuring enjoyable gameplay across all devices, capturing the fun of the original while demonstrating modern web development techniques.

Goals & Objectives:

The primary goal was to create an entertaining and visually appealing web based game that serves as both a tribute to the Pokémon franchise and a practical application of React development skills. Key objectives included implementing core game mechanics (silhouette display, guessing input, scoring), fetching and managing Pokémon data efficiently, ensuring a fully responsive layout for various screen sizes, and deploying a polished, functional application accessible via a public URL.

Approach & Process:

  1. Requirements & Design (Concept Development): Defined the core gameplay loop based on the original "Who's That?" segment. Brainstormed features like scoring and hints. Designed a simple, captivating user flow and established a visual style echoing the Pokémon theme using modern design principles.
  2. Development (Design/Development Phase): Developed the single page application using React. Focused on creating dynamic UI components for displaying silhouettes, handling user input, and providing feedback. Implemented game logic for selecting random Pokémon, checking user guesses against fetched data (e.g., from PokéAPI or a custom dataset), managing game state (score, hints used), and ensuring smooth transitions.
  3. Testing & Iteration (Testing & Feedback): Conducted testing across different browsers and devices to ensure responsiveness and consistent performance. Gathered feedback from friends or peers to identify usability issues or areas for improvement, iterating on the design and game logic accordingly.
  4. Launch & Maintenance (Launch & Ongoing Maintenance): Deployed the application to a web host (e.g., Vercel, Netlify). Manage ongoing maintenance, potentially including adding new Pokémon generations or features based on personal interest or user feedback.

Outcome & Impact:

Successfully launched as a personal project, "Who's That Pokémon?" serves as a practical demonstration of React development capabilities, API integration, and frontend game logic implementation. The project achieved its goal of creating a fun, functional, and nostalgic web game, providing a tangible example of passion translating into a polished application. It effectively showcases skills relevant to frontend or full stack development roles.

FAQ

Questions I get a lot.

Why go back for a CS degree if you were already at $170k?

Because the work had already outrun the paperwork, and I was tired of that gap. I’d walked away from two schools already — Baruch didn’t even offer a CS degree, and by BMCC I was already writing production code, so sitting through intro classes for a piece of paper felt backwards. I enrolled at WGU in 2024, kept the full-time engineering job, and finished the B.S. in August 2026. Third school. First degree, eight years later than the “normal” path. I wanted the foundation, and I wanted to close a loop I’d left open twice.

How did you get hired without a degree?

I showed work. The first scripts were for my dad’s business in 2017, automating the data entry that was eating his week. Columbia’s coding bootcamp gave me three months of full-stack JavaScript and a cohort in 2019 — a program that doesn’t even exist anymore. PLNETWORKS hired me in 2020 on a portfolio, not a diploma. After that, each role was about what I’d already shipped: production bugs, HIPAA software, storefronts. The degree came eight years later. It didn’t open the first door.

What actually moved compensation from $75k to $170k?

Two years of shipping at PLNETWORKS, then a move to Cazton that roughly doubled it, then BrightInsight in 2022 — HIPAA-regulated software at $170k. Same skills, different rooms. The market paid for proof. I treated interviews like case studies of work I’d already done, not like a plea for a first chance.

Where are you from, and where are you now?

I was raised in Jamaica, Queens. First thirteen years in an attic. I live in Hell’s Kitchen now. The city didn’t get bigger. I just moved west of the same story.

How do you actually use Cursor and Claude?

As a tutor and a pair, not as a ghostwriter. I still read the diff. I still throw away the parts that look clever and aren’t. The tools make the boring parts faster so I can spend the hours on the decisions that have to be mine.

What would you tell someone learning to code right now?

Build something your family can use. Put it in public. Don’t wait for a school to bless the start. I dropped out twice, then finished. Both of those were the right call at the time.